White Flight: The Strategies, Ideology, and Legacy of Segregationists in Atlanta

Kevin Kruse, Princeton University

Published:

28 November 2005

Overview:

On November 3, 2005, Dr. Kevin Kruse of Princeton University's History Department spoke at Emory University about several themes developed in his book White Flight (2005), a study of segregationists' strategies and ideologies in Atlanta. White Flight argues that the movement of whites out of southern cities from the 1940s through the 1970s was part of a broader political withdrawal prompted by the civil rights movement, and that the roots of modern southern conservatism can be found in this confrontation.

Use the scroller to the right of the playlist to watch all six parts of the session.

About the Presenter:

Kevin Kruse is a scholar of the political, social, and urban/suburban history of twentieth century America with particular interest in the making of modern conservatism. Focused on conflicts over race, rights, and religion, he also studies the postwar South and modern suburbia. Raised in Nashville, Tennessee, he attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, graduating in 1994. He earned a PhD in history at Cornell University in 2000 and joined the Princeton History Department the same year. His first book, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism (2005), argues that the movement of whites out of southern cities from the 1940s through the 1970s was part of a broader political withdrawal prompted by the civil rights movement, and that the roots of modern southern conservatism can be found in this confrontation. He is coeditor with Thomas Sugrue of The New Suburban History (2005), an innovative collection looking at the history of postwar suburbia in America. Currently, Professor Kruse is working on a new book on the origins of the Religious Right in American politics, from the 1950s through the 1980s.